Presidio Middle School

450 30th Avenue

School District

San Francisco Unified
Grade

6-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:22
Type

public

School Map for San Francisco Unified School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by student on September 28, 2024

I love this school! I go there right now and I am in 8th grade.I also like how they have sports like softball,baseball,soccer,etc... The only thing I don't like is all the bullying that goes on ,it's not fun! I think this school is an okay school and there is so much bullying and drama.There is various of electives like dance,drama,band,choir,guitar,music,art,computer science,T.A(only for 8th graders), ELD, and study skills. In this school you learn a lot and you have sports to do when you wanna have fun but you have to try out to get in. I would rate this school like a 3 or 3.5 but yeah! enjoy!
Submitted by parent on August 19, 2024

My son is in his third year at Presidio and he's had a great time. Every year. There is at least one teacher who really inspire him and challenge him. His Japanese teacher is great and he has had multiple different language arts teachers that have made him read and think differently, and his social studies teacher in 7th grade created a very ambitious plan for their class and mostly delivered on it, much to our surprise. We feel lucky that he is avoided any of the negative social aspects that I remember from my middle school experience, and some of that is on him, but a lot of that is because of what I feel is a thoughtful, supportive but not free-for-all environment in the school.
Submitted by parent on August 15, 2020

Abysmal at best. Overrated, coasting along on it’s previous reputation for academic excellence which is not deserved. There are better middle schools in San Francisco. This school has serious bullying problems and can often be a re-enactment of Lord of the Flies. With the limited leadership in the current admin team, I can only see this school continuing to flounder.
Submitted by parent on May 13, 2020

Excellent school. Great academic program and supportive community
Submitted by parent on November 22, 2019

The academics were overrated and severely lacking except for some teachers. The admin was apathetic on important issues.
Submitted by parent on August 27, 2019

Great experience for both our kids. Terrific teachers and staff. Gorgeous new schoolyard!
Submitted by parent on January 25, 2019

Run to a different school, if you can't , enrich your child's education, Presidio will be 3 years of not much
Submitted by student on October 10, 2018

I loved it! I learned a lot and made many memorable experiences
Submitted by parent on October 28, 2017

My son is now in Eighth Grade, so feel we know the school fairly well.Teachers - Some great, some OK, some burned out or just weird. One was asked to leave the school entirely, one a leave of absense. They never tell you why, but we can guess :-(. 6th Grade teachers were all good, 7th Grade mostly not, 8th Grade all seem to be good, going into November! *Special note*...The SFUSD no longer teaches Algebra in 8th Grade, which will result in children being one semester behind in High School if they intend on taking advanced math like Calculus. Also, there is no more GATE Program for more advanced students, OR Extra Credit! WTH??Homework - My son has never had a problem, but some of his friends have 2 hours a night.School Facility - Total redo of the interior made his first entire year a mess. 2018-19 they are supposed to redo the entire schoolyard. Get ready for major, year long disruption.Bullying - My son doesn't have any problems, but knows of kids that do.Principle - Not the greatest or strongest. Last year dumped new responsibilities on teachers without extra time in THEIR schedules to do it, creating teacher unhappiness and stress, which lead to many delays in posting graded assignments that counted for final Semester grades - NOT cool!Band - Now that we have a stable teacher in band, we feel our son is having a great time and really enjoying Presidio's music program.
Submitted by parent on February 12, 2017

My 6th grader LOVES Presidio! Big school, but strong academics, excellent new principal Mr. Ekno, good teachers, and students from strong SF public schools (Argonne, Alamo, Clarendon, Rosa Parks). Because SFUSD changed its mid school entrance process to a feeder system recently, such that the children in the above public schools presumptively go to Presidio, the demographics seem to be changing (more Caucasian students). Having sent one child to one of SF's best independent schools for middle school, Presidio is the better value and if your child is motivated, plenty of children go to Lowell HS. Neighbor Marc Benioff is a benefactor and has contributed computers and a new, state-of-the-art schoolyard. Worth considering in lieu of private school.
Submitted by parent on May 03, 2016

My son was attending this school and was bullied by more mature students. Yet, personnel was blaming mostly my son for "being a target", or ignored the bullying at best.Can't tell much about other subjects, but math education is extremely poor (as it is in the majority of public and private schools in the US). Students are not taught to think, only memorize some techniques without proper understanding.
Submitted by parent on April 20, 2016

Presidio is highly overrated. HIGHLY. They changed principals right before school started this year with absolutely no warning. I'm sure that was deliberate, but it speaks to the transparency of their communication with parents. They did away with GATE, which I don't necessarily mind even though my kid qualified for it. However, for "differentiation" they have a two teacher system for each classroom. So, two teachers in the same class for LangArts/SocSciences and for Math/Science. In some classes, it works well. Both teachers teach, communicate with students and parents, etc. In others, it's horrible. One teacher does all the work. The other hardly ever speaks to the class, never communicates, certainly doesn't help with any so called differentiation methods. School Loop is what they use to track homework and grades and to communicate with the parents. Unfortunately, only some of the teachers bother keeping up with this. You can also forget about getting a timely response to an email (if you have it answered at all). Even though there is a scheduled hour for science, my kid's class ends up doing double math the majority of the time. This means their science grades are based on very few assignments in addition to the rather horrible fact that they are not learning much science!It's very easy to get lost in the shuffle here. Admin doesn't care. Only some of the teachers do. The teachers who do care are very good. I've seen it especially in the LangArts teachers. We're not in band, but I've heard they've had problems this year, and yes, NO communication. The quality of education is fine for the most part, barring the lack of science, but it's not the most amazing middle school in SF like they like to claim.
Submitted by parent on January 25, 2015

I toured this school with my child expecting a "great school" with a score of 9 but we were extremely disappointed. Saw one child ditch. Saw teachers yelling at another child in the hall during class to shut up. Administration took pains to be rude. Busy Geary street and small concrete play ground for such a big school. Don't be fooled. They look old school and act it.
Submitted by parent on August 14, 2014

This so school shouldn't have this high of a rating. My child is getting bullied and comes home with bruises all over. He tells me that he tries to tell an adult but they brush him off like dust
Submitted by parent on April 23, 2014

The is is overrated school. don't send your kids to this school. The teachers (some) aren't helpful, they don't teach at all. People at the office are also helpless...they should retired.
Submitted by parent on May 29, 2013

I think Presidio Middle School is one of the most overrated middle schools in the city. The administrators, staff and teachers do not about the well being of your child. They mostly care about their STAR testing scores and maintaining their status. There is a big lack of concern for the behavior of students and teachers and counselors either look the other way and ignore it, pretend as if it isn't happening, or they just don't care. Some teachers and staff are so old that they are only at the school to collect a paycheck. I'm thinking "If you don't want to be here, I'm sure there are a bunch of unemployed YOUNG, VIBRANT, and YOUTHFUL teachers willing to take up the spot and make a difference in a young kids' life." However, there are those few (and, I mean few) teachers that actually make kids accountable for their actions (i.e. homework assignments, actions toward other students, etc.) but unfortunately, they go unnoticed. The administrators are super unorganized, unethical, and uncaring - They let the troublesome kids get away with murder and punish good kids who they know won't defend themselves. The school has been a huge disappointment and I'm glad my child is leaving.
Submitted by teacher on May 16, 2013

I have two kids in Presidio. The school is large and the classrooms have 35 students on average. Parents must rely on school loop to keep in touch with teachers who are too busy to contact parents if there is a problem. That said, my kids love the school. They are both in AP classes and thriving. There is a culture here where it is cool for boys to study. My kids friends are diverse, studious, with a good school/play balance. I decided on this school for its academics;and, when I walked around the playground the students were not clumped up in separate racial groups, but playing together. The band program is amazing. The administrative staff I have dealt with have been helpful. I wish the classes were smaller.